PRELIMINARY TESTS POINT TO FIRST CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE OCCURRENCE IN A KANSAS DEER

Follow-up lab testing, confirmation underway in Iowa USDA lab

Preliminary lab testing has identified what may be the first occurrence of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in a wild Kansas deer. Tissue samples from a whitetail doe taken by a hunter in northwest Kansas (deer management Unit 1) during the December firearms season tested positive for CWD in initial lab testing at Kansas State University.

The tissue sample has been transported to a U.S. Department of Agriculture lab in Ames, Iowa, for further testing and confirmation. Results of that evaluation are expected within the next week. The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) is undertaking strategies outlined in a contingency plan the agency developed several years ago, after CWD expanded in Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska. For more information on the disease, visit the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance website .

KDWP biologists have collected tissue samples from deer taken by Kansas hunters since 1996 to monitor deer herd health. During the past deer season, tissue samples were collected from deer in five western Kansas deer management units. Western units were sampled because biologists anticipated that was where an occurrence would most likely be found. CWD has been documented in 10 other states.

The department will post updated information on its website as lab analysis of the tissue sample progresses. Contact Bob Mathews, KDWP Information and Education Section chief (phone 620-672-5911 or email ) for more information. -30-